Pursued(2)

The band was playing a slow song-of course it was-and he pulled her  into his arms, started to move her across the crowded floor. He held her  closer than was necessary or expected for a first dance between  strangers. One hand on her lower back, his fingers curving over the soft  swell of her hip. His other hand continuing to hold, continuing to  stroke, her own. His hard, strong chest brushing against her own with  each step they took. His thighs doing the same.                       
       
           



       

Deep inside, Desi felt herself melting. Felt herself falling a little  more under his spell. She knew it was stupid, ridiculous, insane, but  for the first time in her life, she didn't care. She didn't care if it  was a bad idea to let him touch her. Didn't care if she'd regret it  later. Didn't care, even, if she ended up getting in trouble at work  because she'd spent time with Nic that she should have spent trying to  pry quotes out of the local celebrities. Which, if she stopped to think  about it, didn't make sense at all. She was a woman who lived to work,  who was dying to make a name for herself as a journalist. The fact that  she would put that at risk for a man she'd just met was absurd.

She wasn't that girl, had never been-and never wanted to be-that girl.  And yet, here she was, moving closer instead of back. Arching forward so  that her breasts and her thighs brushed more firmly against him,  instead of walking away. Surrendering instead of putting up a fight.

The gleam in Nic's eyes as he looked down at her was as obvious as his  rock-hard pelvis pressing against her own. Instead of offending her, it  aroused her. Instead of making her scurry for cover, it made her clamor  for more.

One night never hurt anyone, after all. And neither did one kiss. Or at  least that was her story for this evening and she was sticking to it.

Which was why, after taking a deep breath, she tightened her hand where  it rested against the back of his neck and pulled him forward. Pulled  him down, down, down, until their bodies were meshed together and his  lips met hers.





Two

She was delicious. It was the only thing Nic Durand could think as his  lips met those of the beautiful blonde in his arms. Desi, she'd said her  name was, he remembered as he fought to keep from getting completely  lost in the feel of her soft hands on his neck and her lush body pressed  so tightly against his own.

It was a lot harder not to get lost than it should have been. A lot  harder than it had ever been. He'd met-and charmed-a lot of women in his  life, but never had he been so affected by one. Never had he come so  close to forgetting who and where he was when he was with one-even one  as gorgeous, and amusing, as Desi. But here he was, attending his first  charity gala since he and his brother had moved the headquarters of  their diamond company to San Diego earlier that year, and all he could  think about was getting his hands and mouth all over a woman he'd just  met.

As second in command of Bijoux, he was in charge of marketing,  advertising and public relations. It was his job to come to these  ridiculous galas, his job to schmooze and donate pieces to the silent  auction in an effort to continue building the philanthropic reputation  of the business he and his brother, Marc, had poured their hearts and  souls into ever since they'd taken over more than a decade before. The  fact that he'd rather just give all that money straight to charity meant  nothing. After all, experience had proved that buying seats at boring,  trumped-up galas like this one always earned his company good PR. And  good PR was the name of the game, especially when you were one of the  new kids. And not just any new kid, but one determined to shake up the  old system and make things happen. It was the best way to gain access.  He'd come here tonight with an agenda-people to meet, business to do-but  all it had taken was one look at Desi, one conversation with her, one  feel of her pressed against him while dancing, to make all of that fly  out the window.

And he didn't give a damn.

It was odd. Crazy, even. But he wasn't going to fight it, he decided as  he slid his hand down her spine to rest against her lower back. Not  when a simple kiss with her was hotter and more exciting than anything  he'd done with any other woman.

With that thought in mind, he put a little pressure on her back,  pressed her forward … and more tightly against him. She moaned a little at  the contact, her mouth opening with the sound, and he took instant  advantage by licking his way across the little dip in her upper lip,  then across the soft fullness of her lower one. She gasped a little, her  hands sliding up to clutch at his tuxedo shirt. It was all the  invitation he needed.

Delving inside her then, he swept his tongue along her own. Once,  twice, then again and again. Teasing, touching, tasting her. Learning  her flavors … and her secrets.

Despite her sharp cool looks-all platinum-blond hair and ice-blue eyes,  striking cheekbones and long, slender body-Desi was heat and spice.  Cinnamon and cloves, overlaid by just a hint of the crisp, sweet  champagne they had shared. The warmth of her seduced him, drew him  in-drew him under-until all he could think of, all he could want, was  her.                       
       
           



       

Sliding his other hand into her hair, he tangled his fingers in the  silky strands and tugged gently. Her head tilted back in response,  giving him better access to her mouth. And he took it without a thought  to anything but how much he wanted her.

Sucking her lower lip between his teeth, he bit down gently, then  soothed the small hurt with his tongue before once again licking inside  her mouth. This time, he slid his tongue along her upper lip, toyed  gently with the sensitive skin then delved deep into the recesses of her  mouth.

Desi moaned, burrowing even closer as he licked his way across the roof  of her mouth before tangling his tongue with hers. She tasted so good,  felt so good, that he wanted nothing more than to stay right there  forever.

But at that moment someone jostled him. The jolt broke the spell and he  came back to himself slowly, became aware of their surroundings and the  fact that he was about two seconds from undressing her in the middle of  one of the most important social events of the Southern California  season. He should be embarrassed, or at least shocked that he'd let  things get so far out of hand. But he didn't care about that, didn't  care about any of the people milling around them or what they must be  thinking.

All he cared about was getting Desi out of there … and getting inside her as quickly as he possibly could.

Pulling away from her reluctantly, he forced himself to ignore her moan  of protest-and the way it shot straight to his groin. It wasn't easy.  Just as it wasn't easy to look away from her flushed cheeks, her swollen  lip and slumberous eyes. But if he didn't, he would say to hell with  social niceties and take her right here in the middle of the dance floor  where everyone could see them. Where everyone could watch as he put his  claim on her.

Just the thought-which was an admittedly odd one to have when he didn't  know this woman at all-had him placing a hand on her lower back and  escorting her through the bright crowds to the darkness of the balcony  beyond the ballroom. As he did, he tried to ignore the looks they were  getting. It wasn't easy, especially when he saw the way so many of the  men were looking at them. Looking at her. Only the awareness that he was  one small step away from growling and beating his chest like some kind  of caveman kept him moving.

Desi went with him willingly, pliantly even, which soothed some of the  strangely possessive feelings rocketing through him. But he'd barely  gotten her outside-the door was still closing behind them-before she was  on him. Her arms wrapping around his neck, her body wrapping itself  around his own, her mouth desperately seeking his.

The same urgency was a fire inside him. A pounding drum in his  bloodstream, a stroke of lightning that he couldn't shake. That he  didn't want to shake.

All he wanted was her.

It was a shocking revelation, and a humbling one. He loved women, loved  everything about them and always had. But this driving desire for Desi,  this craving to have her any and every way he could, was something new.  Something as unexpected as it was exciting.

Keeping his mouth on hers and his lips open so she could delve inside  him the same way he had explored her, Nic turned them until her back was  against the outside wall of the ballroom. She moaned softly as her bare  skin came in contact with the building and he shifted back, so that he  could slide an arm between her and the rough, cold stone.

"Please," she whimpered, pressing her pelvis against his as her hands  clutched his shirt, pulling and tugging at it in a frantic need that  mirrored his own.